# What were slip on sneakers called during the Boomers childhood? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** commercials-ads\ **Created:** [May 27, 2023, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-slip-on-sneakers-called-during-the-boomers-childhood/984651 "2023-05-27T01:21:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2023, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-slip-on-sneakers-called-during-the-boomers-childhood/984651/21 "2023-05-27T04:44:40Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > A lot of childhood details are coming back as I read the posts. Remember **this guy**? I’m pretty sure he wore deck shoes too. > **[Capt. Storm Vol 1](https://dc.fandom.com/wiki/Capt._Storm_Vol_1)** > > Capt. Storm was published from June of 1964 until April of 1967 and featured the titular naval hero, Captain William Storm. Following the series' cancellation with issue #18, Storm went on to lead the Losers in the pages of Our Fighting Forces. Capt.... ---
**Author:** ![InternetLegend](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/internetlegend/32/13154_2.png) [@InternetLegend](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/InternetLegend)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2023, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-slip-on-sneakers-called-during-the-boomers-childhood/984651/22 "2023-05-27T05:21:33Z")
I remember ladies of a certain age wearing canvas slip-ons, and that’s what i think we called them. I try buying a pair every couple of years, forgetting that they are always too narrow across the instep and too wide in the heel, making them impossible for me to walk in. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2023, 8:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-slip-on-sneakers-called-during-the-boomers-childhood/984651/23 "2023-05-27T08:51:07Z")
In New Zealand growing up I would have called them sand shoes, but those can be with laces too. Brits call them plimsolls. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2023, 11:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-slip-on-sneakers-called-during-the-boomers-childhood/984651/24 "2023-05-27T11:01:04Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > Brits call them plimsolls. Any relation to the song _Rock My Plimsoul_? (RIP Jeff Beck) ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2023, 11:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-slip-on-sneakers-called-during-the-boomers-childhood/984651/25 "2023-05-27T11:34:48Z")
Pretty sure we called them deck or boat shoes. The only person I knew who wore them was my dad - and that was even weirder than when he wore jeans! For whatever reason, in my memory his casual or chore “pants” were always just an old pair of suit/dress pants. And when working around the house, he wore his oldest pair of wingtips. (Once when painting the chainlink fence he painted them silver. Not THAT was a look!) ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2023, 12:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-slip-on-sneakers-called-during-the-boomers-childhood/984651/26 "2023-05-27T12:26:15Z")
I never saw a slip-on sneaker. If you mean boat shoes, we called them Topsiders - the brand name. They had laces, though you could slip them on. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2023, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-slip-on-sneakers-called-during-the-boomers-childhood/984651/27 "2023-05-27T13:30:00Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > I never saw a slip-on sneaker. Nobody else ever tried a loose checkerboard lacing on their sneakers? [![](https://web.archive.org/web/20180926024624im_/https://www.fieggen.com/Dont_Link/pics13/Chk247.jpg) ](https://web.archive.org/web/20180926024624im_/https://www.fieggen.com/Dont_Link/pics13/Chk247.jpg) Then you can slip them on and off. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2023, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-slip-on-sneakers-called-during-the-boomers-childhood/984651/28 "2023-05-27T14:21:15Z")
Well, I guess all my shoes are slip-ons. As a kid, I realized that if I don’t lace them up super-tight, I can slip them off. Still do. It’s saved me two seconds a day for sixty years… And I’ve got a shoehorn by the door in case I have trouble getting them back on. This works even with my soccer cleats and hiking shoes. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2023, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-slip-on-sneakers-called-during-the-boomers-childhood/984651/29 "2023-05-27T14:40:40Z")
> [@mixdenny](#): > > Deck shoes were introduced by Sperry and were called Topsiders. There was definitely a difference between deck shoes and topsiders when I was growing up around boats in the 1970s. Deck shoes were canvas with normal shoe laces and were bought cheap at JC Penny for us prole kids. Topsiders were more often soft leather with a weird lace around the back, ill-suited for working on a boat, and worn by kids we would call preppies ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2023, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-slip-on-sneakers-called-during-the-boomers-childhood/984651/30 "2023-05-27T15:10:44Z")
> [@Roderick\_Femm](#): > > The difference with these Skechers – I know because I have a pair (they call them “slip-ins” to distinguish them from slip-ons, including their own slip-ons) is that you really can put them all the way on without using your hands in any way. Right. Sketchers are not loafers. No bending down, you just stick your feet in them, I’ll never go back to regular shoes. ---
**Author:** ![Tibby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tibby/32/17030_2.png) [@Tibby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tibby)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2023, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-slip-on-sneakers-called-during-the-boomers-childhood/984651/31 "2023-05-27T15:20:29Z")
This Boomer started expressing his haute couture fashion statements back in the Hippy 60s with tie-dye shorts, bell bottom pants and moccasins. Then I seamlessly transitioned into the Disco 70s with pastel leisure suits, wild-print polyester shirts and patent leather platform shoes. From there I effortlessly converted into the Yuppie 80s with Izod polo shirts, pleated khaki pants, and Sperry Topsiders (if they weren’t Sperry, you were nowheresville, man). Oh, I dabbled in a few other fashion fads over the years. There was my biker black leather phase, my rat-tail stage, and even my puffy perm period. But, these were all short lived. Regretfully, I never had a mullet and mutton chop moment. Nike created a sneaker paradigm shift in the 70s, though I could only afford Adidas at the time (after retiring my trusty PF Flyers). I don’t recall any slip-on sneakers back then, but maybe the old geezers wore them. After the 80s, I gave up on fashion entirely and dress strictly for comfort. Now that _I’m_ an old geezer, I wear tee-shirts, shorts and slip-on sneakers almost exclusively. I can’t remember the last time I wore long pants (living in Florida may have something to do with it)—probably at divorce court. Of course post-divorce, I can’t afford fashionable clothes any longer, anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2023, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-slip-on-sneakers-called-during-the-boomers-childhood/984651/32 "2023-05-27T15:24:43Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > Sketchers are not loafers. No bending down, you just stick your feet in them, I’ll never go back to regular shoes. These particular Skechers (the “slip-ins”); there are lots of other Skecher models that seem to be no different in this respect from other brands. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2023, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-slip-on-sneakers-called-during-the-boomers-childhood/984651/33 "2023-05-27T15:27:51Z")
> [@DPRK](#): > > Nobody else ever tried a loose checkerboard lacing on their sneakers? And then the rabbit goes down the hole and back up then over the log…… ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2023, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-slip-on-sneakers-called-during-the-boomers-childhood/984651/34 "2023-05-27T15:34:02Z")
Right. Sketcher Slip-Ins. There are other brands offering the same kind of shoe also. ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2023, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-slip-on-sneakers-called-during-the-boomers-childhood/984651/35 "2023-05-27T15:34:35Z")
Do tell, I’d be interested in looking at them. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2023, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-slip-on-sneakers-called-during-the-boomers-childhood/984651/36 "2023-05-27T16:01:48Z")
I see these advertised on TV - [Zeba shoes](https://zebashoes.com/pages/why-zeba?gad=1&gclid=CjwKCAjw1MajBhAcEiwAagW9MWhk2voDvw8FN8O9Arlg_GcERzBcFcLTbtwVolCb_q948vP_3iCURhoC3LkQAvD_BwE) ---
**Author:** ![chela](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chela/32/21582_2.png) [@chela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chela)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2023, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-slip-on-sneakers-called-during-the-boomers-childhood/984651/37 "2023-05-27T16:38:10Z")
_Fast backs_ came to mind. ---
**Author:** ![Kropotkin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kropotkin/32/18045_2.png) [@Kropotkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kropotkin)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2023, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-slip-on-sneakers-called-during-the-boomers-childhood/984651/38 "2023-05-27T19:49:41Z")
Slip-ons, loafers, and others of that ilk, denote weak character. It’s knee-high caulk boots for me on land, sea, deck, or court. ---
**Author:** ![ThisSpaceForRent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thisspaceforrent/32/345_2.png) [@ThisSpaceForRent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThisSpaceForRent)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2023, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-slip-on-sneakers-called-during-the-boomers-childhood/984651/39 "2023-05-27T20:00:02Z")
We called them “Gilligan Shoes”… ---
**Author:** ![Infovore](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/infovore/32/420_2.png) [@Infovore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Infovore)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2023, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-slip-on-sneakers-called-during-the-boomers-childhood/984651/40 "2023-05-27T21:11:17Z")
> [@Roderick\_Femm](#): > > Do tell, I’d be interested in looking at them. If you like athletic shoes, Nike has a line called “Fly-Ease.” Some of them bend, so you can slip into them, and others you just step into. I got a pair of the step-in types and I like them a lot. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-slip-on-sneakers-called-during-the-boomers-childhood/984651.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-slip-on-sneakers-called-during-the-boomers-childhood/984651.md?page=3)